Hem marker



April 4, 1967 s. o. ORTHWIN 3,311,979

HEM MARKER Filed April 28, 1965 FIG-l 5 JRRZI INVENTOR. SI DNEY O.ORTHWIN United States Patent G 3,311,979 HEM MARKER Sidney 0. Orthwin,3665 Seiber Ave., Dayton, Ohio 45405 Filed Apr. 28, 1965, Ser. No.451,396 Claims. (Cl. 33-9) The present invention relates to a device foruse in homes, dress shops and other establishments for marking the hemof a garment, such as a skirt, dress, coat, and the like.

Various types of devices of this kind, commonly called hem markers, haveheretofore become known. One type of hem marker for marking the hem lineon womens wearing apparel establishes a chalk mark at the desired heighton the wearing apparel. Such chalk marks, however, while being easilyremoved and brushed from many materials are rather difficult to removefrom other types of materials. On the other hand, chalk marks aredifficult to see on light-colored materials, especially white materials,whereas it is difiicult to completely remove all traces of the chalkmarks from dark-colored materials. When a hem line marked by chalk ispressed, the heat may seal the chalk in the material, and sometimes itis totally impossible to remove the chalk from the material.

Another type of hem marker which is well known and widely used consistsof a stand placed on the floor which stand supports a ruler having anadjustable slide member thereon adapted to be arrested in any desiredposition in conformity with the height of the hem to be marked. Thisslide member comprises an integral head and an anvil in form of a leverpivotally connected to said slide membet and adapted together with saidhead to receive therebetween and fold a garment section on which a hemline is to be marked. The said head and the adjacent anvil portion areprovided with guiding means which together confine a definite passagefor a pin used for pinning a hem line so as to assure that each pinintroduced through said passage into the fabric of the respectivegarment will be perfectly horizontal and thus make a straight hem line.A hem marker of this type enables any unskilled person in a fool-proofmanner to mark a perfectly straight hem line. After the hem line hasbeen pinned on the respective garment, the garment is folded along themarked line and pressed. However, before the hem line can be pressed, itis necessary to remove the pins.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention further to improvea hem marker of the last-mentioned type so as further to facilitate thehem marking operation.

It is another object of this invention to provide a hem marker whichwill enable any unskilled person to mark a perfectly straight hem linewithout the aid of pins.

Still another object of this invention consists in the provision of ahem marker which will permit any unskilled person to mark a hem linewith the aid of needle and thread to thereby do away with the heretoforenecessary operation of withdrawing the pins prior to the pressingoperation.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedhem marker which will permit any unskilled person selectively to mark ahem line with thread or with pins.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear moreclearly from the following specification in connection with theaccompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side view of a hem marker according to the presentinvention with the clamping lever in nonclamping position;

FIGURE 2 is an isometric view of the upper portion of the hem marker ofFIGURE 1 but with the clamping lever in clamping position;

ice

FIGURE 3 is a section taken along the line III-III of FIGURE 2 with athread passed through the device;

FIGURE 4 is a section similar to that of FIGURE 3 but with the threadpassed through the: device in clampedin position;

FIGURE 5 is a section taken along the line V--V of FIGURE 2 with theneedle and a portion of the thread passed through the device and afabric;

FIGURE 6 shows an exploded view of the elements making up the threadcutting device of the hem marker shown in FIGURES 1 and 2;

FIGURE 7 illustrates a piece of fabric with a hem line indicating threadpassed therethrough in conformity with the present invention.

The hem marker according to the present invention differs from theabove-outlined heretofore known hem marker employing pins in that, whilemaking use of a guiding passage which will permit the passing of aneedle and thread therethrough, it has a thread cutting member and isprovided with thread holding means for holding the trailing end of thethread the front portion of which has been passed through said guidingpassage, so that another portion of the thread which has been passedthrough said guiding passage can be cut by the thread cutting member.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, the hem marker according to thepresent invention comp-rises a stand generally designated 1 which iscomposed primarily of a base 2 and a vertical height indicating member,for instance a ruler 3, connected to said base. Base 2 may be of anydesired type, for instance, it may be a three-legged base, while theheight indicating member may be provided with any desired markings, forinstance inches and subdivisions thereof, or may be provided withindices of the metric system. Adjustably mounted on said heightindicating member 3 is a sliding member 4 adapted to slide upwardly anddownwardly on said member 3. Sliding member 4 has a front portion 4a,side portions 4b for engagement with the side surfaces 3a of heightindicating member 3, and also a tongue portion 4c (see FIG. 2) whichextends along the back side of height indicating member 3 and ends in anear 4a. Front portion 4a of sliding member 4 has an ear 4e opposite ear4d. Sliding member 4 may be held in any adjusted position by a screw 5,passed through ears 4d and ie, and a wing nut 6 threaded on said screw5. It will be appreciated that when wing nut 6 is tightened, slidingmember 4 will be clamped to the height indicating member 3.

The upper end of sliding member 4 has an anvil 7 which is W'shaped incross-section (see FIG. 2) and has two horizontally aligned grooves 8for a purpose to be referred to later. Sliding member 4 has near itslower end at both sides thereof forwardly protruding ears 4 throughwhich extends a pin 9 pivotally supporting a lever It) with a head 10aat the upper end thereof. Said head 10a is of a W-shaped cross-sectioncorresponding to that of anvil 7 so that when lever 10 is pivoted in thedirection of the arrow A of FIG. 1, head 10a will nest in anvil 7. Head10a is provided with an ovalshaped opening 11, a groove 12 horizontallyaligned with opening 11, and a cutout 13 horizontally aligned with saidgroove 12 and oval opening 11. The location of opening 11, groove 12 andcutout opening 13 is such that when lever it! is pivoted in thedirection of the arrow A so that lever head 10a engages anvil 7, thegrooves 8' and anvil 7 will be in horizontal alignment with the parts11, 12 and 13 of lever head 10a so that together they will confine :ahorizontal passage which will guide a pin or a needle to be passedtherethrough. Slidably mounted on lever 10 is a slide 14 which is guidedon lever 10 in any convenient manner, for instance by cars 15. Tofacilitate the guiding of slide 14 on lever 10, it is advantageous todesign the lever so that it has a W-shaped cross-section throughout itslength, and to design slide 14 likewise so that it has a W-shapedcross-section along its length which matches the W-shaped cross-sectionof lever 10.

The upper end of slide 14 has at its left-hand side (with regard toFIGS. 2 and 6) a lateral protrusion 16 to which is connected a cuttingarrangement generally designated 17. This cutting arrangement comprisesthe cutting blade proper 18 which has a vertical oblong slot 19 therein.The cutting arrangement furthermore comprises a guard 20 with one ormore openings 21 therein to permit the use of fastening means such asone or more screws for fastening guard 20 to protrusion 16 with cuttingblade 18 therebetween. To this end, protrusion 16 is provided withthreaded bores 16a which are located within the range of slot 19. Thedistance between bores 21 in guard 20 will, of course, correspond to thedistance between bores 16a. Guard 20 is mounted over blade 18 whilescrews 22 are passed through openings 21 and slot 19 and are threadedinto bores 16a so as to firmly hold the members 20 and 18 on lateralprotrusion or projection 16. Blade 18 has, of course, a width such thatits cutting edge will protrude below the valley portions of cutouts 20aof guard 20 but will not protrude beyond the peaks or adjacent left-handedge (with regard to FIGS. 2 and 6) of guard 20.

A cutting arrangement as just described has the advantage that blade 18can be turned end for end so as to fully exploit the entire length ofits edge if one edge portion should become dull. However, it is to beunderstood that if desired, the left-hand edge (with regard to FIGS. 2and 6) of protrusion 16, as far as it is covered by guard 20, may form acutting edge 160, in which instance a separate blade, i.e. blade 18,will not be necessary.

Slide 14 has its upper right-hand portion (with regard to FIGS. 1 and 6)provided with a further lateral projection 23 for cooperation with theupper right-hand portion of lever 10. As will be seen from FIG. 4, leverhas its upper end portion provided with an abutment 24 which may beformed, for instance by lancing. This abutment, which limits the upwardmovement of slide 14, has a purpose which will become apparent furtherbelow. When lever 10 is in its non-clamping position shown in FIG. 1,slide 14 will, due to its own gravity, have slid downwardly so that itslower edge will rest on edge 25 of bracket 26 connected to the lower endof lever 10 and penetrated by pin 9. Slide 14 may selectively be movedupwardly toward abutment 24 on lever 10 when the latter is in itsclamping position so as to lock the trailing end of a thread passedthrough anvil 7 and head 10, between said abutment and the upper edge ofprotrusion 23, as shown in FIG. 4. However, as will be evident from FIG.4, the trailing end section T1 of thread T is also clamped between theupper inner face section of slide 14 and the upper outwardly facingsection of lever 10. Therefore, abutment 24 is not necessary under allcircumstances for clamping and holding thread section T1.

For purposes of facilitating the grasping and moving of slide 14, thelatter may be provided with bores 27 (FIG. 2) into which a finger or thenail of a finger may press so as to get a firm hold on said slide.

Operation The operation of a hem marker according to the presentinvention is as follows: It may be assumed that a skirt 28 is to bemarked with a hem line at the level 29. To this end hem marker 1 isplaced on the floor, and sliding member 4 is adjusted in such a way thatnotches 8 will be at the level of the hem line 29 to be marked, whileslide 14 is in its lower position as shown in FIG. 1. After anvil 7 hasbeen brought into close engagement with skirt 28, lever 10 is pivoted inthe direction of the arrow A so that its upper portion of W-shapedcrosssection engages and presses the respective adjacent skirt portioninto anvil 7. While lever 10 is held in this position with one hand ofthe person using the hem marker, the other hand of said person thenpasses a needle 30 with thread T through the passage confined by opening11, grooves 8, notches 12, and cutout opening 13 as shown in FIG. 5, sothat the needle 30 pulls the thread through the respective skirtmaterial. The thread is preferably threaded through the eye of theneedle in such a way that one thread section is shorter than the other.The needle is passed through said passage to such an extent that a shortend of the longer thread section, for instance from /4" to /2", remainsoutside the oval opening 11. Thereupon slide 14 is moved upwardly so asto cover the oval opening 11 thereby clamping and holding the trailingend of the longer thread between protrusion 23 and the adjacent upperend portion of lever 10. It will be appreciated that with the particulararrangement shown in the drawing, slide 14 will be moved upwardly untilit is stopped by abutment 24. However, as mentioned above, abutment 24is not, under all circumstances, necessary.

When the said trailing thread section has thus been clamped and is beingheld fast, needle 30 is moved toward the right (with regard to FIG. 2)of slide 14 in such a way that the longer thread section extending fromthe cutout opening 13 will be pressed against the cutting edge 18a ofblade 18 and will be cut thereby. The person operating the hem markerthen releases slide 14, whereupon the latter, due to its own weight,drops to its downward position, and lever 10 pivots outwardly, likewiseby its own weight, into non-clamping position. In this way, a threadsection will remain in the skirt material precisely where the hem lineis to be made. The hem marker is then moved to a new location, and thehem marking operation as described above is repeated.

If no needle and thread are available, or if for other reasons itsufiices to mark a hem line by means of pins, the arrangement accordingto the present invention likewise permits such operation. The differenceover the operation described above, consists merely in that slide 14 isnot actuated, in other words, remains in its lower position, and thepins for marking the hem line are inserted in the same way as the needlewith thread was passed before. It is to be noted that the pins have tobe put through the device so that the head of the pin will be in theopening 11 in order to permit lever 10 to pivot outwardly after the pinshave been inserted.

It is, of course, to be understood that the present invention is, by nomeans, limited to the particular construction shown in the drawings, butalso comprises any modifications within the scope of the appendedclaims. 'Thus, the cross-sectional shape of anvil 7 and the head 10acooperating therewith is by no means limited to a W- shape but may be ofV-shape, as disclosed, for instance, in my Patent No. 2,446,319, or maybe of any other corrugated shape.

What I claim is:

1. A hem marker, which comprises: a stand adapted in its effectiveposition to be placed on a floor and including a height indicating meansextending in upright direction when said marker is in effectiveposition, a first slide slidably mounted on said height indicating meansand adapted to be arrested thereon in any adjusted position, said slidehaving a corrugated anvil, lever means having one end portion thereofpivotally connected to said slide at a portion thereof vertically spacedbelow said anvil when said marker is in its effective position, saidlever means having its other end portion corrugated in conformity withsaid anvil for cooperation therewith, said lever means being pivotabletoward said anvil so as to fold and clamp therebetween a fabric placedbetween said anvil and said corrugated other end portion of said levermeans, said anvil and said other end portion of said lever means beingprovided with guiding means forming a substantially horizontal needleguiding channel when said earners lever means is in its fabric clampingposition, a second slide slidably mounted on said lever means andprovided with clamping means operable to clamp a thread between saidsecond slide and said lever, means in the vicinity of said guidingchannel, and cutting means supported by said second slide in spacedrelationship to said clamping means for cutting a thread passed throughsaid channel.

2. A hem marker according to claim 1, in which said anvil and said levermeans and said second slide have a substantially W-shaped cross-section.

3. A hem marker according to claim it, in which said second slide isprovided with cutout means for engagement with a finger to facilitatemanual sliding and hold ing of said second slide.

d. A hem marker, which comprises: a stand adapted to be placed on thedoor and including an upright height indicating member, a first slideslidably mounted on said height indicating member, said slide having acorrugated arresting said slide in a desired adjusted position on saidheight indicating member, said slide having a corrugated anvil at itsupper portion, lever means including two lateral edges having its lowerend portion pivotally connected to said slide and having its upper endportion corrugated in conformity with said anvil for cooperationtherewith, said lever means being pivotable toward said anvil so as tofold and clamp therebetween a fabric placed between said anvil and saidupper end portion of said lever means, said anvil and said upper endportion respectively being provided with first and second passage meansextending at substantially the same level when a fabric is clampedbetween said anvil and said upper end portion of said lever means andextending substantially horizontally when said height indicating memberis in its substantially vertical position to thereby provide asubstantially horizontal guiding channel through which a needle with athread is to be passed, said channel having an inlet near one lateraledge of said lever means and an outlet near the other lateral edge ofsaid lever means, abutment means arranged near said one edge and on theupper end portion of said lever means when viewing the latter with theheight indicating member in its upright position, a second slideslidable on said first slide and having clamping means thereon movabletoward said abutment means for clamping therebetween a thread portionprotruding from said needle guiding channel and pertaining to a threadpassed through said channel by means of a needle, and cutting meansarranged near said opposite edge for cutting off a thread passed throughsaid channel and deflected toward said cutting means.

5. A hem marker which comprises: a stand adapted to be placed on a floorfor placing said marker in its effective position, said stand includinga ruler occupying an upright position when said hem marker is in itseffective position, a first slide slidable on said ruler and having oneand provided with a corrugated anvil, said anvil forming the upper endof said slide when said ruler is in its upright position, lever meanshaving one end pivotally connected to said first slide at a portionthereof which is vertically spaced from and at a lower level than saidanvil when said ruler is in its upright position, said lever meanshaving another end which is corrugated for cooperation with said anviland being adapted to clamp a fabric between said corrugated end portionand said anvil while holding said fabric, said anvil being provided withfirst guiding channel means extending in substantially horizontaldirection when said ruler is in its upright position, said corrugatedend portion being provided with second guiding channel meanssubstantially parallel to said first guiding channel means and includingan oval opening at one side and a notch on the other side, said secondchannel means being substantially at the same level as said firstchannel means when said lever means is in its fabric clamping position,a second slide slidably mounted on said lever means and operable toclamp between said lever and said second slide a thread which protrudesfrom said oval opening, and cutting means supported by said second slideand movable to a position near said notch for cutting off a threadpassed through said notch and deflected toward said cutting means.

6. A hem marker according to claim 5, in which said cutting meansincludes guard means and a cutting blade interposed between said secondslide and said guard means.

7. A hem marker according to claim 6, in which said blade is adjustablerelative to said guard means.

8. A hem marker according to claim 5, in which said lever means isprovided with abutment means for limiting the maximum sliding movementof said second slide.

9. A hem marker, which comprises: a stand adapted in its eifectiveposition to be placed on a floor and including a height indicating meansextending in upright direction when said marker is in effectiveposition, a first slide slidably mounted on said hei ht indicating meansand adapted to be arrested thereon in any adjusted position, said slidehaving a corrugated anvil, .lever means having one end portion thereofpivotally connected to said slide at a portion thereof vertically spacedbelow said anvil when said marker is in its effective position, saidlever means having its other end portion corrugated in conformity withsaid anvil for cooperation therewith, said lever means being pivotabletoward said anvil so as to fold and clamp therebetween a fabric placedbetween said anvil and said corrugated other end portion of said levermeans, said anvil and said other end portion of said lever means beingprovided with guiding means forming a substantially horizontal needleguiding channel when said lever means is in its fabric clampingposition, and a second slide slidably mounted on said lever means andprovided with clamping means operable to clamp a thread between saidsecond slide and said lever means, said second slide being provided witha cutting edge arranged in spaced relationship to said clamping meansfor cutting a thread passed through said channel.

in. A hem marker, which comprises: a stand adapted in its elfectiveposition to be placed on a floor and including height indicating meansextending in upright direction when said marker is in effectiveposition, a first slide slidably mounted on said height indicating meansand adapted to be arrested thereon in any adjusted position, said slidehaving a corrugated anvil, lever means having one end portion thereofpivotally connected to said slide at a portion thereof vertically spacedbelow said anvil when said marker is in its effective position, saidlever means having its other end portion corrugated in conformity withsaid anvil for cooperation therewith, said lever means being pivotabletoward said anvil so as to fold and clamp therebetween a fabric placedbetween said anvil and said corrugated other end portion of said levermeans, said anvil and said other end portion of said lever means beingprovided with guiding means forming a substantially horizontal needleguiding channel when said lever means is in its fabric clampingposition, the other end portion of said lever means being provided withabutment means, a second slide slidably mounted on said lever means andprovided with clamping means movable toward said abutment means forclamping a thread between said second slide and said abutment means, andcutting means supported by said second slide in spaced relationship tosaid clamping means for cutting a thread passed through said channel.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,446,319 8/1948Orthwin 33-9 2,502,287 3/1950 Stewart 33-40 3,122,834 3/1964 Bukovsky33--9 LEONARD FORMAN, Primary Examiner.

L. ANDERSON, Assistant Examiner.

5. A HEM MARKER WHICH COMPRISES: A STAND ADAPTED TO BE PLACED ON A FLOORFOR PLACING SAID MARKER IN ITS EFFECTIVE POSITION, SAID STAND INCLUDINGA RULER OCCUPYING AN UPRIGHT POSITION WHEN SAID HEM MARKER IS IN ITSEFFECTIVE POSITION, A FIRST SLIDE SLIDABLE ON SAID RULER AND HAVING ONEAND PROVIDED WITH A CORRUGATED ANVIL, SAID ANVIL FORMING THE UPPER ENDOF SAID SLIDE WHEN SAID RULER IS IN ITS UPRIGHT POSITION, LEVER MEANSHAVING ONE END PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO SAID FIRST SLIDE AT A PORTIONTHEREOF WHICH IS VERTICALLY SPACED FROM AND AT A LOWER LEVEL THAN SAIDANVIL WHEN SAID RULER IS IN ITS UPRIGHT POSITION, SAID LEVER MEANSHAVING ANOTHER END WHICH IS CORRUGATED FOR COOPERATION WITH SAID ANVILAND BEING ADAPTED TO CLAMP A FABRIC BETWEEN SAID CORRUGATED END PORTIONAND SAID ANVIL WHILE HOLDING SAID FABRIC, SAID ANVIL BEING PROVIDED WITHFIRST GUIDING CHANNEL MEANS EXTENDING IN SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTALDIRECTION WHEN SAID RULER IS IN ITS UPRIGHT POSI-